Twenty of our year 10 pupils were delighted to accept an invitation to attend a thank you reception held at Sunderland Civic Centre yesterday evening.

The event was organised by Sunderland City Council in order to thank volunteers who helped with last month’s Sunderland City’s 10K and half marathon running events.

Forty pupils helped with the races either by packing ‘goody’ bags beforehand for runners or by helping marshalling the finish of the race, on a very cold, wet Sunday morning.

Yesterday’s reception was an opportunity for the Mayor and Mayoress of Sunderland together with event organiser Steve Cram (former Olympic athlete and world record holder) to personally thank our pupils for their assistance with this community event.

Thornhill is already known for providing helpers with the Great North Run, it looks as though our reputation for helping with running events is spreading!